1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns providing remote access to a local computer, such as the user's home computer, via e-mail. A user utilizes the e-mail application of a remote computer, wireless device, such as a wireless telephone or paging device, or personal digital assistant with a wireless modem, to send commands via e-mail to the local computer. In this manner, the remote user can access the operating system, e-mail application, internet browser and other applications on the local computer, without the need for special software on the remote computer or device.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is often desirable for a user to remotely access a local computer in order to obtain data from the local computer or to execute commands on the local computer and obtain the results from such executed commands. For example, when away from home, a user may want to remotely access the user's home computer to check e-mail messages received on the home computer or to control the e-mail application on the home computer, such as to redirect the user's e-mail messages to another e-mail address. In addition, the user may want to remotely access the home computer in order to access a web page via the web browser on the home computer, or to execute operating system commands on the home computer.
There are many known applications for providing a user with remote access to a local computer, however these known applications have several drawbacks. For example, popular applications for remote access of a local computer require the installation and set-up of proprietary software on both the local computer and the remote computer that will be used to access the local computer. In addition, the known applications typically require the establishment of a unique connection between the local computer and the remote computer. Because a firewall in the local computer, or on the LAN to which the local computer is connected, would prohibit initiating the unique connection by the remote computer, the local computer generally has to initiate the unique connection. This is because a typical firewall prohibits any outside computer or device from initiating a port connection with the local computer hosting the firewall. The only port that is usually accessible through a firewall is the e-mail port, which is a predetermined port number. For remote devices other than computers, such as an e-mail-enabled paging device, there is no ability to download proprietary software or to establish unique connections with a local computer.
Many known applications for remote access of a local computer also require the transfer of a device screen image of the local computer to the remote computer, which requires a high bandwidth connection in order to maintain an adequate representation of the local computer screen image on the remote computer. This transfer of the screen image provides the user of the remote computer with an emulation of the local computer's user display. The remote computer in the foregoing example would need at least the same display capabilities of the local computer. Such a display capability is generally not possible for remote devices other than computers, such as e-mail/web-enabled wireless telephones, wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs), or e-mail-enabled paging devices.
In view of the above, a solution is desirable which allows for access to a local computer by a remote computer without the need for special software on the remote computer and without the need for special connections between the two computers. In addition, the increased use of portable computing devices other than personal computers, such as e-mail/web-enabled wireless telephones, wireless PDAs, and e-mail-enabled paging devices, creates a need to provide remote access to, and control of, a local computer from such portable computing devices.